Chapter 17

Ginny and August were halfway to the employee cafeteria when Justus raced behind them.

"Go! Fucking go!" Justus yelled.

August gripped Ginny's hand tighter and ran. He unlocked the door and pushed her inside, following closely as Justus joined them and pulled the door shut.

"What's going on?" August demanded.

"All of a sudden a whole bunch of shit went wrong. The norms' paddock gate was tampered with and a few escaped and are running around. Then some of the wolves noticed the tires on all the safari tour Jeeps are flat." He leaned against the door with a sigh and scrubbed his hand through his hair. "I knew you were out in the open, so I wanted to hurry you up."

"You did, thanks," August said.

Ginny rubbed her arms as a creepy chill stole over her. "Jackals are in the park, but how did that happen with all the security?"

"I don't know, it doesn't seem possible," Justus said. His walkie squawked and he picked it up as Jupiter's voice came over the speaker.

"There's a fire near the aviary. All security personnel fan out, we have intruders in the park. Repeat: all security report topside immediately."

"I gotta jam," Justus said. "You two get down to safety." He ducked out of the cafeteria and raced toward the security office.

Ginny wanted to crumple into a ball.

Jackals were in the park.

"These are distractions," August said. "They're messing with the security force."

They saw others from the park run to the security office.

Her mind spun as she stared out the one-way glass. "That female from the pack…"

"What about her?"

"She was watching the security office."

"Right."

Ginny glanced at him. "She saw us run into this building."

August's brow furrowed.

She wasn't even sure what she was trying to say, but something seemed really off about the whole thing.

She felt like the air went cold, like something evil had entered the area, sending out creepy vibes.

Rubbing the back of her neck, she looked over her shoulder and saw a door along the back wall ajar.

"August," she whispered, grasping his shirtsleeve.

"Yeah?"

August turned to look at her; she could see him in her peripheral, but she couldn't move or turn away. Someone was in the room with them.

Someone bad.

August felt something before Ginny grabbed his shirt and whispered his name in stark terror.

He turned from the window and looked at her, but she was frozen in place, her hand tight on his sleeve.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement and he snapped into action.

He grasped his soulmate by the back of her shirt and bolted for the door, shoving her outside and hauling the door shut to keep her safe from whoever was inside.

She screamed his name and pounded on the door.

He turned back and let his gorilla out enough to enhance his strength and speed.

Two males slunk from the shadows of the back of the cafeteria. They wore all black, their fangs and claws visible.

"The roof, huh?" August said, aware that the access door to the roof of the building was ajar. He'd missed it when they walked into the room in the first place, too preoccupied with watching outside to check out the room. He'd kick his own ass later for not being more vigilant.

For now, he'd kick their asses.

The bigger of the two males, who was still not nearly as big as August, strode forward, his black claws shining in the overhead lights. "This has nothing to do with you, stranger. We've come to take Ginny to her grandfather. There are laws to uphold."

"She's not part of your pack anymore," August said.

It would be super handy if he had claws, but he'd just have to make do with his big muscles.

Jackasses.

"You're not in control here," the smaller, weaselly-looking one said.

August smiled. But just for a moment.

Then he roared and struck.

He backhanded the smaller male and grasped the larger one by the neck, heaving him over his shoulder toward the window. The male hit the one-way glass, which shattered on impact.

Grabbing the smaller male by his scraggly hair, August pulled him behind him as he stepped through what had once been a floor-to-ceiling window and dropped him next to his friend.

Outside the cafeteria, the park shifters were fighting more strangers, most dressed all in black like the two males he'd taken out. He looked around and didn't see Ginny.

She screamed his name.

He looked in the direction of her cry for help and saw her being chased by a male down the path toward the safari paddocks.

Fuck.

"I've got these guys, go get her!" Alistair shouted as he lifted a black-clad male in the air and slammed him down on top of the two males August had left on the ground.

Without a word, August raced toward his soulmate.

This was Ginny's nightmare. She was being chased. And she didn't really know where she was going. She had vague memories of the walk around the park with August and his friends, but she hadn't really cataloged anything for future reference.

She ducked around a stall that sold popcorn and cotton candy and peeked around the corner.

She recognized the male coming for her—Diedrich, her grandfather's right-hand.

He wasn't stopping—he knew exactly where she was.

She inhaled deeply and let her jackal go enough to enhance her speed. She was fast in her shift, and she needed that speed right now.

The sound of glass shattering made Diedrich pause for a moment, and she took the opportunity to race away. And also scream August's name.

She hoped to hell he was okay. She couldn't believe that he'd pushed her out of the cafeteria to protect her, but he'd inadvertently pushed her right into a melee with jackals attacking the security team.

That's when Diedrich had spotted her, and now here she was, running for her life.

She stumbled as several deer ran by and nearly took a header into the tall stone wall that surrounded each paddock. Down the path ahead, she could see people in dark clothing coming her way, and she knew they were jackals.

She was trapped. Diedrich on her heels, jackals ahead of her.

She reached the open norms' paddock and rushed in, grabbing the gate and swinging it shut. It bounced back, the lock broken where it had been forced open.

The maintenance shed! There would be a door in the floor where she could get to safety and then figure out a way to get back to August to make sure he was okay.

She ran for the maintenance shed, her heart hammering in her chest.

Skidding to a stop, she realized there was a keypad next to the big double doors of the shed.

She tested the door handle to see if it would open, and it didn't.

And she didn't have the code.

Shit.

Turning, she put her back against the shed as she watched Diedrich and the other males walk into the paddock.

There was nothing in the paddock but normal animals, and not even predator ones that could help a girl out. Aside from the animals, there was only a pond, some trees and rocks, and the useless locked building at her back.

Fear clawed at her like something alive and wretched. Her gut churned, her mouth went salty, and her eyes stung. If they took her to her grandfather, she'd die just as surely as the rest of her family. Not only was she not ready to traipse off into the great beyond, but she didn't want to leave August. She just got him, for Hades' sake.

And she was not going to go down without a fight.

Letting out her claws, she lifted her head and unleashed a howl.

"I'm not going anywhere with you," she vowed, clicking her claws together.

Then she lowered her head and smiled.